25 Cooking Mistakes That Ruin Your Food

Morgan CutoloAug 02

Make sure to avoid these cooking mistakes to ensure your dish is as close to perfection as possible.

Adding too much salt

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Adding too much salt to your dish doesn’t only make you want to chug a glass of water, it’s also really unhealthy. Add a little sprinkle of salt as you cook your food and taste it to know when you’ve added the right amount. Watch out for these cooking mistakes that can make your food toxic.

Not sifting the flour

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If you don’t sift your flour when cooking it can lead to lumps. People often run into this problem when making gravies and sauces. If your sauce has a lot of lumps, throw it in a blender to smooth it out.

Overcooking pasta

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Nothing ruins a dish like mushy pasta. If you let the water boil for a little too long run your pasta under cold water for a few minutes to stop the cooking process and contract the starch. When you add tomato sauce it will make the pasta warm again. If your mushy pasta is beyond repair, add it to a batch of minestrone or chicken noodle soup.

Adding too much water to rice

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Adding too much water to your rice when cooking can make it turn out soggy. But don’t worry; your meal isn’t completely ruined. Add some cooked shrimp or meat to it, for little balls, and fry them or wrap them in wontons and steam them. This is how to fix your most common cooking disasters and save your food.

Forgetting to stir

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If you forget to stir your stew—or whatever dish you’re cooking on the stove—the bottom of the pan can burn and become completely black. You can save your stew by transferring the part that isn’t burnt to a new pan. Make sure to do this as soon as you notice some has burned, though, because it could ruin the taste of the whole dish.

Not greasing the cake pan

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Forgetting to grease the cake pan before pouring the batter in can lead to a crumbly mess when you take it out of the oven. It won’t be able to easily slide out of the pan and onto the drying rack. If you’re crafty you can try “gluing” the pieces of the cake back together with frosting.

Not using parchment paper

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Putting your cookies directly on the pan instead of using parchment paper is slightly easier, but if you want whole cookies, use parchment paper. Without parchment paper, the cookies will get stuck to the pan and break apart. If this happens, try using them as a cookie crumble to top a cake or add to an ice cream sundae. You’re probably making these 50 common kitchen mistakes.

Overcooking veggies

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If you accidentally overcook your vegetables it can make them dry and bland. Cool them in ice water and then reheat briefly in hot stock to make them edible again.

Adding too much sugar

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If you add too much sugar when cooking it can make your dessert extremely unhealthy. If you have a sweet tooth, try satisfying it with fruit-centric desserts.

Using the “low-fat” option

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Choosing the low-fat option to cook with isn’t very healthy; there is such a thing as good fat. In fact, not adding enough fat when cooking is a mistake. Fat is an important energy source and helps your body with the absorption of vitamins.

Ignoring the commas

If you don’t read a recipe closely it could ruin your dish. For example, if a recipe says “1 cup walnuts, chopped” this means measuring one cup of whole walnuts and then chopping them. “One cup of chopped walnuts” means that you would chop the walnuts before measuring. Watch out for these baking mistakes you never knew you were making.

Checking on your food while it’s in the oven

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It’s very tempting to open the oven to check on your food and get a whiff of what’s to come, but it could cause your food to be undercooked. Every time you open the oven door it releases enough heat to change the temperature. If you want to be able to see your food, turn on the light and look through the oven window.

Using cold ingredients

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It’s very important to use room temperature ingredients when baking (unless the recipe calls for otherwise). Warmer ingredients are not only easier to mix together, but it will also make the end result fluffier.

The oven temperature is too high

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If your oven temperature is too high, it can cause the outside of your meal to burn and the inside to still be undercooked. It’s important to keep an eye on your food as it cooks because the temperature display on the oven isn’t always accurate, especially on older models.

You use the wrong pan

Not waiting for baking sheets to cool

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Even though you might be in a time crunch to make 80 cookies for your bake sale tomorrow, not waiting for the baking sheets to cool between batches can ruin them. If you put the dough on a warmed cookie sheet it will cause that batch to be browner than the previous one.

Using a small pot to cook pasta

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If you add a large handful of pasta to a small boiling pot of water it can cause the water’s temperature to drop fast, and it will take longer to start boiling again. As the noodles sit in the lukewarm water they will start to get mushy and clump together. This is the biggest mistake you can make when cooking pasta.

Skipping the meat thermometer

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Even if you’re a grill master, you probably can’t accurately tell when meat is ready just by looking at it. If you poke it with a fork to check the inside, you risk releasing some of the flavor. Use a thermometer instead to make sure your meat is finished and safe to eat. Even grill masters make these mistakes when cooking a steak.

Never cleaning your grill

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Cleaning a grill can be tedious, but it can make your meal that much better. If there is built up debris on your grill it can cause the meat to adhere and tear. It’s important to clean the grill after each time you use it while it’s still hot.

Purposely burning your food

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Some people like to burn their food for that extra crunch, but it can actually be bad for your health. The blackness on your food is actually carbon, a known carcinogen.

Using a food processor when the recipe calls for a mixer

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Blenders, mixers, and food processors are designed to do different things. A blender is used to mix and puree food; a mixer stirs, whisks, or beats food; and a food processor is a hybrid of a mixer and a blender. Using the wrong machine can give your food the wrong consistency.

Prepping ingredients as you cook

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To avoid ruining your food you should have all of your ingredients pre-measured and prepped before you start. If the recipe calls for minced garlic and you take the time to mince the garlic mid-step, it could ruin the recipe.

Forgetting to taste as you cook

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You should be tasting your food every step of the process. This will help you to make sure that you’re following the recipe and that nothing has gone wrong.

Adding too much food to the pan

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Each piece of food that you put in the pan needs to have enough room to cook evenly and thoroughly. A good rule of thumb is to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Putting too much food in the pan will increase cooking time and cause the food to become mushy. Next, read about these brilliant kitchen shortcuts.